Many people like to knit, whether as a hobby or a profession. Whether a professional or hobby knitter, all who knit suffer from the same dreaded problem: controlling a ball of yarn from tangling and containing it in a manner that keeps the yarn clean and safe from pets and children's curiosity.
No matter how careful a knitter is or how securely the knitter thinks they have corralled the ball of yarn, eventually the ball gets away from the knitter and finds its way onto the floor. Once on the floor, the ball of yarn will often roll across floor. When this happens, aside from the risk of becoming intertwined with other yarn, the ball of yarn may become “spoiled” by getting dirty from the floor. The ball of yarn is subjected to any and all bits and pieces of whatever debris is on the floor; lint, dirt, and the worst of worst, dreaded pet hairs. Aside from being very frustrating, spoiled yarn can result in a finished product that must now be washed or picked clean before wearing it or passing it on to the intended recipient.
Moreover, almost all who knit like to take their knitting with them when they know they will have some down time that will allow them to continue to work on their project. Knitters often knit while waiting for appointments such as in doctors, dentists or business offices, while sitting around for kids to finish sports, or school projects, while riding the bus or train to work and even while they have wait time on line for appointments like at motor vehicle office. Those who travel, either on vacation or business, especially love to take their knitting along with them. They knit while in the car, on the plane, riding the train, or on the bus, etcetera. Then once at their destination, such as the beach or in the hotel, they again pick up their beloved knitting. Unfortunately, when knitting on the go or at home, most knitters carry their yarn in big bulky yarn bags or baskets. The ball of yarn necessary for knitting can get tangled in the material bag, intertwined and tangled with other yarn or knitting materials in the bag.
An important technique of the art of knitting is to keep the gauge steady and even. This is so the knitted work has a smooth professional look and finish to it. Even the occasional knitter strives for this. If the knitter is constantly pulling to release the next length of yarn from a tangled ball, which happens constantly while trying to secure the ball, it makes it much harder to maintain that smooth even gauge.
Unfortunately, these problems with knitting prevent or discourage many knitters from bringing their knitting material with them when traveling and from knitting. There are no known devices for easily transporting and holding yarn while a knitter knits.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,860,342, which is herein incorporated by reference, describes a yarn carrying and dispensing apparatus including a substantially hollow sphere shaped yarn carrying portion that substantially envelopes a single yarn ball.